"We've made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles," an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters.
A person familiar with the development told Reuters that the cuts affected no more than 250 software development jobs.
The layoffs are intended to help Amazon "operate more efficiently and better align with our product roadmap," the spokesperson said. On Wednesday, the company also announced a new Alexa-powered alarm clock and photo frame.
As is customary at the company, text messages and emails were sent to employees early Wednesday morning. One message seen by Reuters was from Cherie Robinson, a human resources vice president in the devices and services unit, who said the company had conducted "a thorough review of our structure" that resulted in the need for job cuts.
Amazon is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings after the market closes on Thursday.
Amazon's massive layoffs in 2026
In January this year, Amazon cut about 16,000 jobs. The company had previously laid off 14,000 employees in October 2025.Reports at the time cited Amazon's massive investments in artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the factors behind the job cuts. The company is reportedly investing $125 billion in data centres and infrastructure as it races to compete with Google and Microsoft.
Microsoft, Dropbox also announce job cuts
Amazon is not the only technology company announcing workforce reductions this week.On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a voluntary exit offer for about 60,000 employees as it adjusts its workforce amid changing business priorities and substantial investments in AI infrastructure.
Earlier on Wednesday, file-sharing company Dropbox announced plans to lay off 9% of its global workforce. The company said the move was intended to "concentrate its resources on areas with the greatest potential to drive customer impact and business growth."
Tech industry layoffs in 2026
According to TrueUp, which tracks layoffs across the technology industry, 670 tech companies have announced layoffs so far in 2026, affecting 197,123 employees. That amounts to an average of 655 people losing their jobs each day.In 2025, 783 tech companies announced layoffs affecting 245,953 employees, or an average of 674 people per day.